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Late. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., retweeted a photo on X of two California residents who appeared to make lewd gestures at teenage girls protesting “Save Girls’ Sports” at a high school volleyball game Wednesday night.
Cruz condemned the two women in his post Friday.
“If you do this to little girls, your heart has gone completely dark,” Cruz wrote.
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Jurupa Valley players Hadeel Hazameh (left) and Alyssa McPherson, who filed a lawsuit against the Jurupa Unified school district in protest of transgender player AB Hernandez, watch during a CIF Southern Section Division 5 girls volleyball playoff match against Valencia, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Placentia, Calif. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
The original photo was taken by California Family Council Outreach Director Sophia Lorey at a state playoff game that included a biologically male trans athlete competing.
The trans athlete’s team, Jurupa Valley High School, lost in straight sets to Valencia High School. JVHS was thrust into the game after finishing as co-champions of its league, losing at least 10 games this season amid a national controversy involving the trans athlete.
INSIDE GAVIN NEWSOM’S TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL CRISIS
Fans wearing Jurupa Valley pose during a CIF Southern Section Division 5 girls volleyball playoff game against Valencia, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Placentia, California. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
Two of Jurupa Valley’s senior players, Hadeel Hazameh and Alyssa McPherson, were in the stands protesting with other girls after they stepped away from the team in September.
McPherson and Hazameh filed a lawsuit against the Jurupa Unified School District citing their experience with the trans athlete on the field and in the locker room.
Meanwhile, multiple sources, including board trustee Leandra Blades of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, which houses Valencia High School, confirmed to Pakinomist Digital that at least one of Valencia’s players did not take the court Wednesday to avoid facing Hernandez.
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) and the California Department of Education for refusing to change its transgender eligibility policies to comply with President Donald Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order.
